Anyone on Viva Italia 7/27/09

[ginrich]

My family and I are booked on the Viva Italia 7/27/09. Anyone else out there on this trip also. Any advice from people that have recently been on this trip is appreciated. We were on the Germany trip last year and loved it. It was by far our favorite family vacation. I have four children ages 16, 13, 10 and 7.
Ginrich

 

[glassslipper2004]

You will have a wonderful time! It seems to be one of the most popular trips taken by people on the DIS boards. We went last summer and I wish we could go again! My only comments - enjoy yourself fully, eat gelato and good meals whenever you can, sit in the tourist spots and soak up the wonderful views (we had great meals in Rome and Venice this way - in contrast, when I tried out of the way spots, the food was similar but the view wasn't as memorable). I also wish I had brought a few slightly dressy (or at least fresh and clean) blouses or skirts/dresses, depending on your preference, for the evening, as we tended to get very hot during the day, and the meals at night were so lovely it was nice to clean up.

Any questions, I'm happy to help.

 

[aspen37]

I just wanted to say have a great time!!!!

 

[SLK1]

I was on the June 11-19 trip and I say "Ditto" to everything glassslipper said! Also, keep a journal. My son and I did this - on my iphone, so nothing fancy, and I'm so glad we did. We love looking back and laughing at things or remembering things we might otherwise have forgotten. When you're on the bus from Artimino to Florence, look for the field full of sunflowers - great photo op, despite being from the bus window. At Artimino, tour the grounds on your "holiday" day. There is a path behind the big building and it has beautiful views (all the views are beautiful though!). Also, eat lots of gelato - it really is great, and my son liked the gelataria in Artimino the best (he said gelateria sounds like a disease!!!) We probably liked Venice the best, and we did what the guide told us, "Get a little lost in the city"...great experiences and lots of fun. Keep euro coins in your pocket for potty breaks - they're not as generous with their potties as we are in the states!

Things we loved most in each city: Rome: Trevi Fountain at night - beautiful; Artimino - we loved everything about it! Florence - we were NOT crazy about this city, but loved seeing David; Venice - we climbed the bell tower in St. Mark's square and timed it so the bells rang while we were standing right underneath them. That was pretty neat.

Have a BLAST!!!!!

 

[SLK1]

Sorry - just a few more: At the hotel in Venice, there is a garden in the back. It is really very pretty, so go through it and enjoy how pretty it is. Then, you will see a "dock" past it and we enjoyed sitting on that at night and enjoying the water views. We also ate at Pizzeria Vesuvia's in Venice- one of our most memorable meals as the food was great, we ate with several from our group and loved the company, and the service was excellent.

At the Colisseum (sorry, I still cannot spell that correctly), purchase the book that the guide recommends (well, at least our guide recommended it). It basically shows the Roman ruins NOW then has overlays to show what they looked like THEN. Gives you a great perspective on what you're seeing and is a wonderful keepsake.

If you need Wi-Fi, you can purchase an hour or more in Rome, in Artimino it's free, and in Venice you purchase it and it was expensive, or so I thought.